"Help, it's so itchy... a lot of bugs are crawling inside my face..."
In the isolation ward, Xie Yiman walked back and forth in pain, hitting the bed's quilt with his head from time to time, or pinching his arm fiercely, but he still couldn't stop, and still wanted to scratch his face. His face was covered with scratches.
She suddenly slammed her head against a wall, and was immediately stopped by the nurse who ran in. After all, she was only an 18-year-old girl, and she sobbed helplessly.
There are surveillance cameras in the corner of the ward, and what is happening inside is being broadcast live in a medical conference room.
Gu Jun, Uncle Dan, Zhang Haidong and other white coats looked at the meeting screen, and they could see that Xie Yiman's mental state was getting worse and worse.
"The patient's self-mutilation behavior has become more severe, and protective measures must be stepped up." Zhang Haidong said with a frown.
"Professor Zhang, if the patient is immobilized," Gu Jun asked, "will it stimulate her mental state even more?"
What is the cause? They are not sure yet, so they can only make some exclusions.
If it is a skin disease, not viral, bacterial, fungal, parasitic, allergic, autoimmune, skin tumor, etc. - the patient's physical indicators and film results are not obviously abnormal, and even Local anesthesia doesn't stop the itching.
Faced with such a situation, doctors from all over the world are focusing on the type of "neuropsychiatric skin disease".
Gu Jun had always been worried that it would be this type, because this is also the category of psychiatry, and the way of treatment has become uncertain.
If it is caused by microorganisms, then kill the microorganisms, and the skin disease will probably be cured. There is a treatment method "how to kill microorganisms".
But neuropsychiatric dermatoses are different.
There is no need for abnormal forces to cause trouble. Human beings already have many such diseases. The patient had no primary skin lesions, but suddenly felt paroxysmal itching anywhere on the body, and then scratched, but the scratching became more itchy, and symptoms such as rash, edema, and scales appeared.
There is also a "parasitic delusional disorder", in which there are no parasites in the skin, but patients stubbornly feel that they are infected with parasites, even if they do not believe the results of a clear examination, they think that there are a large number of worms in their skin crawling.
And abnormal behaviors such as hair pulling, nail biting, head bumping, etc. are not uncommon in this type of disease.
So if it wasn't for the branded shape of the erythema and the occupational similarity of the affected patients, this could be a common disease.
"It must be a stimulus to the patient's spirit." Zhang Haidong said solemnly, "Ah Jun, I still need you to tell the patient that you have her trust even more."
"If it doesn't work, let's do an artificial coma?" Uncle Dan proposed an idea, and everyone has thought about it.
Artificial coma is mainly used to treat patients with traumatic brain injury, but sometimes this kind of deep anesthesia can also be used to keep some patients from moving.
"I'll try first to see if I can persuade her to hold on." Gu Jun thought about it.
"Neuropsychiatric disorder" refers to nervous system dysfunction, or mental disorder. Now it is more inclined to the latter, and it is useless without local anesthesia.
The key lies in how to correct the patient's psychological state.
"To treat this type of skin disease, you usually have to find a way to relieve itching." Zhang Haidong said again. He is in his fifties. rich experience. "The mentality of such patients is very strange. They seem to have a switch in their hearts. When it is turned on, it means that the disease occurs, and when it is turned off, nothing will happen. This requires them to truly believe that the itching is gone and cured, and the switch will work. closed."
How to relieve the itching, this is exactly the problem now.
For general neuropsychiatric skin diseases, drugs can still have physiological effects, more or less.
For patients with mild illness, even if you apply dexamethasone ointment to the affected area, it can also relieve itching.
If anti-inflammatory and antipruritic drugs do not work, sedatives can also be given, and local anesthesia can be given if they do not work. For example, they have already given Xie Yiman the procaine closed therapy, which can reduce itching, pain and other abnormal sensations through local anesthesia, and cooperate with psychological treatment, so that he can also recover.
Now probably because of the influence of abnormal power, these methods are useless.
Xie Yiman should not be able to feel the presence of the face, but she still felt itchy, and there were still many bugs crawling.
Gu Jun even used the raw material of golden aloe vera for external application, but it still didn’t work. Maybe the live golden aloe vera is useful, maybe the related medicines developed in the future are useful, but the laboratory is still analyzing the ingredients and extracting substances from the raw materials. stage.
He had inquired about it in his dream, and Zugjili's report was that there was nothing wrong with the Worm House, and no relevant physical passage had been found for the time being.
"I'm going to talk to her."
After the meeting, Gu Jun came to the isolation ward again.
The patients are still in isolation in the local hospital, and the Tianji Bureau will transfer and concentrate them as appropriate. All aspects of the work will take more time to be determined and carried out, but if there is no way to relieve the itching, the patients may not be able to survive this.
"Captain Gu, help!" As soon as Xie Yiman saw him, he rushed up and hugged his airtight protective suit like a madman, begging endlessly: "Help me..."
Gu Jun took a deep breath silently, every time he faced the patient's call for help, his heart felt like being torn apart.
Among the patients, Xie Yiman was the most seriously ill for the time being. The erythema on her face did not spread and expand, but she was so itchy that she was about to have a nervous breakdown.
"Yiman, in fact, the situation has been basically clarified now. It's just a procedure for me to wear protective clothing. Your disease is not contagious. It is not caused by bacteria, viruses or insects. Some kind of supernatural power has affected your perception. "
Gu Jun patted Xie Yiman's shoulder, and explained to her gently and patiently what neuropsychiatric skin disease is, taking great care not to irritate her.
Professor Zhang has already mentioned him, this kind of patients have great mental fluctuations and are easily agitated, especially don't like to hear people say "you are not sick at all, you just have a mental problem". After working in the clinic for a long time, I know that patients are very hesitant. The communication between doctors and patients must first achieve respect and empathy for patients.
So when Gu Jun said it, he always used a way to express "I know you are a victim".
"That kind of power creates a kind of spiritual connection with you, so that this idea can be passed on in your mind like this, making you feel itchy on the face, itchy. But if we take this connection Cut it off, and the disease may be cured.”
Gu Jun's deduction is not nonsense, as the nightmare disease has such a spiritual connection.
"Then...then what should I do?" Xie Yiman asked blankly and anxiously, trusting Gu Jun a lot.
"We will increase the dose of sedative for you, and at the same time fix you on the hospital bed with your hands and feet tied up. You are responsible for showing your will and enduring it!" Gu Jun encouraged, "No matter how itchy it is, don't worry about it. It doesn't scratch, endure, endure today! Let's see what happens."
Let the patient face that connection directly, and if he can bear it, he may be able to reverse that abnormal force.
"No, no, no..." Xie Yiman became anxious when he heard the words, and almost screamed and cried: "No, no, I will die then! Captain Gu, it's not that I don't want to bear it, it's that I can't bear it, Do you understand, it's too itchy, I can't stand it..."
Seeing that she was so excited, Gu Jun knew that this method would not be successful for her, because the focus was not on calmness, but on psychological treatment.
"Captain Gu, if you want me to die." Xie Yiman's tone became agitated, "Then I might as well die quickly!"
She was about to rush over and hit the wall, but Gu Jun quickly grabbed her, "Don't! We have other treatment options, this one won't work, so don't worry."
"What plan?" Xie Yiman asked pantingly, scratching his face vigorously, hope rekindled in his eyes.
"Artificial coma." Gu Jun said, and now he can only try it. "We will give you general anesthesia, and you will fall into a coma, and you won't feel anything."
"Okay!" Xie Yiman nodded happily, "This is good, I want to sleep for a while, this is good!"
"But there is a risk that you will never wake up." Gu Jun told her clearly. In general, as long as the dose of anesthetic is reduced and stopped, the patient can be awakened at any time. However, patients with different banyan disease cannot have general anesthesia and coma, otherwise they can wake up and be just a shell of unconsciousness.
He is not very advocating artificial coma. First, there is this risk; second, when the patient loses self-awareness, will there be any new changes in the condition
But these are uncertain, and if you just endure it, it may drive the patient crazy.
The treatment path of each new disease needs to be explored, and for each path, patients must always be the first to try.
"I..." Xie Yiman was a little confused, maybe he couldn't wake up? "Can I call my mom?"
"Okay." Gu Jun complied with her request, it's not a problem, her family is under the control of the Bureau of Secrets.
Xie Yiman choked up a long phone call with his parents, no one would want to take such a risk. But less than an hour later, she decided to try this because of the itching that became more and more intense. She really couldn't bear it anymore, as long as she could rest for a while...
The treatment plan is set and will be implemented soon.
Various monitoring instruments and equipment were sent to the isolation ward, and the emergency room was also prepared. The anesthesia team prepared the medicine and administered inhalation anesthesia to Xie Yiman. In pain and anticipation, this popular star actor slowly closed his eyes and fell into a coma.
It was two o'clock in the afternoon that day, and Xie Yiman performed the world's first artificial coma treatment during the epidemic.
Her coma situation continued to be monitored throughout the entire process. Gu Jun, Deng Ximei, Uncle Dan and the anesthesia team stood beside the hospital bed, watching her quietly and sensing the surroundings...
Gu Jun was not inclined to artificial coma from the beginning, but at this time, there was always a lingering anxiety in his heart, which became more and more serious.
When Xie Yiman had just been in a coma for half an hour, she was still lying motionless on the hospital bed, but the indicators monitored by the instrument next to her suddenly changed. The EEG is different between a coma and a conscious, but at this time, the EEG slow waves increased, and her consciousness became active again.
"Wake up the patient!" Gu Jun hurriedly said, breathing in to stabilize himself.
Several anesthesiologists had already taken action, and Uncle Dan patted his head regretfully: "Oops, I shouldn't have said this idea, really shouldn't..."
"Uncle Dan, you have to try a solution." Gu Jun knew that it was not anyone's fault, and he couldn't blame Uncle Dan. He only hoped that the patient could be awakened smoothly.
At this time, Deng Ximei beside him said softly to him: "Maybe, we can, give it a try... See what Xie Yiman is going through now?"
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